


at any given moment

by WhiteRose_Is_My_Life



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: F/F, Friendship, and doesn’t know how to deal w liking girls, idk how to tag this but she’s a knightly lesbian, lesbian ingrid, no beta we die like Glenn, talking about feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2021-01-04 08:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21194390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiteRose_Is_My_Life/pseuds/WhiteRose_Is_My_Life
Summary: “I think I might, also. Like girls, I mean.” Her tone, as much as she’d tried for it not to, still sounded unsure.“Oh.” He responded, and it put her on edge. Was that a good oh? A bad oh? “You...didn’t know?”





	at any given moment

**Author's Note:**

> *banging pots and pans together* i ship Ingrid with so many people because she deserves so much love! 
> 
> i don’t care if intsys ruined her very good character set up she’s mine now and im fixing it 
> 
> just confused girl liker Ingrid talking to the biggest girl liker she knows, her best friend sylvain 
> 
> my twitter is @wrcassnessa

“Sylvain,” said Ingrid, tentatively. Her tone was just a little bit unsure, and she hated feeling that uncertainty. It was like a dagger in the back of her self-confidence, which only upset her further, because she was Ingrid Galatea, right hand of the Emperor and Pegasus Knight High General. She swallowed, steeling herself and pressing on.“You...like girls, right?” 

He gave her a look, somewhere between confused and amused. “This from the girl who used to lecture me constantly about having to clean up after my habit of liking girls?” 

“Sylvain_._” 

“No, I don’t. Despite the fact that I am dating a girl, I do not like them, not one bit. Their soft skin, bright smiles, I hate every minute of it.” 

“_Sylvain._” 

He grinned, relenting. “What do you need, Ingrid?” 

“I think I might, also. Like girls, I mean.” Her tone, as much as she’d tried for it not to, still sounded unsure. 

“Oh.” He responded, and it put her on edge. Was that a good oh? A bad oh? “You...didn’t know?” 

“What.” She said, more of a flat statement than an actual question. 

“I just- with the way you look at Hilda, I assumed that you two were, uh. Dating, I guess? It made a lot of sense in my head.” 

Ingrid went bright red. Oh goddess, had she truly been so obvious? Does that mean everyone knew- does Edelgard know? She didn’t truly think the Emperor would have a problem with it, but she’d planned to tell her on a completely separate occasion, and- 

“If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think anyone else has noticed. Just me, Felix, and Thea.” 

“Felix?” Ingrid repeated. 

“You know, growing up with you and being your friend for years did kinda give him a good sense for reading you.” 

“And Dorothea, did you...tell her?” 

“No, she kind of- goddess, this is embarrassing, she kind of knew before Felix or I did. She likes girls too, right, so picked up on it a lot faster than either of us.” 

“Oh goddess, Dorothea likes girls…” Ingrid whispered reverently. 

“Ingrid?” Sylvain’s eyebrows were perked up in his half confused half worried kind of way, the way that made her happy to see because it reminded her about the heart of gold he kept under lock and key within himself. 

“Nothing, nothing, just...something she said to me once.” Sylvain’s confused look remained, so she continued. “She said something about...pouncing on me, back in our academy days. I was so embarrassed at how badly I wanted her to that I gave her the cold shoulder, I had no idea she was being _ serious._”

Sylvain licked his lips and coughed out a strangled “oh.” that sounded much different from his previous one. 

“Is something wrong?” 

“Nothing, I just. Have to remind myself to high five my bride-to-be later. If there’s one thing she’s good at, it’s knowing what she wants and going for it.” Bingo, right on target. That was exactly what Ingrid needed, that simple phrase feeling like the arrow had finally hit in the center of the target. 

“Right, that’s what I was going to ask you about. You and your…” She trailed off, unsure of how to phrase it. “Boyfriend and girlfriend sounds clunky, partners doesn’t seem like it quite has the effect, and technically betrothed doesn’t work because you’re only betrothed to one of them.” 

“I honestly don’t know that we’ve ever put a name to it.” Sylvain responded honestly, and Ingrid sighed.

“It’s not important. I just wanted to know how that happened. How you,” she paused. “courted them.” 

Sylvain retained a straight face for just a second before he’d bursted into laughter. Ingrid crossed her arms and exhaled, indignant. He may have grown, but he was still so childish at times and seemed determined to never let her forget it. 

“Courted,” He repeated, still clearly amused. 

“Can you please just answer my question?” Ingrid asked, clearly exasperated. 

Sylvain put his hands up in mock surrender. “It was really different for both of them. Dorothea and I hated each other at first, giving each other sweet niceties that were completely insincere and meant nothing. She figured I just wanted her for her beauty and voice and I figured she just wanted me for my crest and title. Neither of which were true, but we were quite young back then.” 

“It’s only been five years,” 

“And clearly, a lot has changed, has it not?” He gave her a scrutinizing look. “Now, you asked, so listen. We kept dancing around the topic of anything serious because we didn’t really know what the other wanted and it kinda sucked. It wasn’t until the war broke out- I had to pick a side, most of us did, and I couldn’t imagine fighting for a cause I didn’t believe in, especially when she would be on the other side of that fight.” 

“You didn’t believe in Dimitri?” Sylvain’s eyes met hers, and for a brief moment, they stared in shared silence. 

“Did you? Claude and Edelgard were right to rebel, Rhea had been lying to the entirety of Fódlan and considered us as little more than cannon fodder for her holy oppression. Crests destroyed my family and most of my life, and those wounds still persist today. The church stood for crests and oppression, and Dimitri stood for the church. My choice was easy.” 

He wasn’t wrong, even if they had gone hilariously off topic. There was so much she could say, could explain. “And Felix? How did you…?” Ingrid pressed on, not wanting to get into the semantics of picking sides. She’d chosen to rebel because it seemed like the knightly choice, and because Edelgard inspired hope in her in a way Dimitri and Rhea never had. 

Sylvain gave her a knowing look but continued nonetheless.“Before the final battle with the Immaculate One. I went to his room at night, told him how I felt, and. Well.” He didn’t elaborate, but she understood well enough. 

Several beats of silence passed between them.

“Ingrid?” 

“Mmm?”

“You should tell her.” Sylvain said, sincerity in his gaze. Her mind immediately shifted to thoughts of Hilda, smiling at her in the heat of battle, complaining lazily about training, her lidded eyes and face sheened beautifully with sweat after they’d finished. Ingrid remembered having the sudden impulse to kiss her and then running away. Ingrid had always been exceptional at running away. 

“I can’t.” She replied quickly, honestly. Maybe it was that she’d not been ready to admit it, or that she’d been worried what Hilda will think of her, but when she thought of what might happen if Hilda doesn’t return her affections she felt viscerally sick.

Sylvain stared for several seconds, looked away. 

“Ingrid?”

“Yeah?”

“Tell her.”

“I just said-“ 

“I know,” Sylvain replied, and he probably did. “But even though the war is over, life isn’t certain, you know? All it takes is a stray blade or arrow and it’s all over. Don’t unnecessarily rob yourself of happiness.” 

He hadn’t been looking at her, still wasn’t. His eyes were cast across the courtyard at Claude and Edelgard, walking side by side and talking. 

“Yeah,” Ingrid replied, watching the way Claude smiled at the Emperor. It reminded her somewhat of Hilda’s smile- warm and bright, but Hilda’s had always been brighter. More inviting, and more than once, Ingrid wanted to take that invitation. Hilda re-entering her thoughts wasn’t surprising, but it was quite telling. She reached out, gripped her resolve.

She was Ingrid Galatea, and she was so tired of running away. “I won’t.” 

**Author's Note:**

> abby if ur out there....this is for u. thank u for opening my eyes to hilgrid ur mind is huge


End file.
